A “Rosetta Stone” for Metazoan Zooplankton: DNA Barcode Analysis of Species Diversity of the Sargasso Sea (Northwest Atlantic Ocean)

Authors

Ann Bucklin, University of Connecticut
Brian D. Ortman, University of Connecticut
Robert M. Jennings, University of Connecticut
Lisa M. Nigro, University of Connecticut
Christopher J. Sweetman, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Nancy J. Copley, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Tracey Sutton, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
Peter Wiebe, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

ORCID

0000-0002-5280-7071

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

ISSN

0967-0645

Publication Date

12-2010

Keywords

Zooplankton, DNA barcode, Sargasso Sea, Species diversity, Deep sea

Abstract

Species diversity of the metazoan holozooplankton assemblage of the Sargasso Sea, Northwest Atlantic Ocean, was examined through coordinated morphological taxonomic identification of species and DNA sequencing of a ∼650 base-pair region of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) as a DNA barcode (i.e., short sequence for species recognition and discrimination). Zooplankton collections were made from the surface to 5,000 meters during April, 2006 on the R/V R.H. Brown. Samples were examined by a ship-board team of morphological taxonomists; DNA barcoding was carried out in both ship-board and land-based DNA sequencing laboratories. DNA barcodes were determined for a total of 297 individuals of 175 holozooplankton species in four phyla, including: Cnidaria (Hydromedusae, 4 species; Siphonophora, 47); Arthropoda (Amphipoda, 10; Copepoda, 34; Decapoda, 9; Euphausiacea, 10; Mysidacea, 1; Ostracoda, 27); and Mollusca (Cephalopoda, 8; Heteropoda, 6; Pteropoda, 15); and Chaetognatha (4). Thirty species of fish (Teleostei) were also barcoded. For all seven zooplankton groups for which sufficient data were available, Kimura-2-Parameter genetic distances were significantly lower between individuals of the same species (mean=0.0114; S.D. 0.0117) than between individuals of different species within the same group (mean=0.3166; S.D. 0.0378). This difference, known as the barcode gap, ensures that mtCOI sequences are reliable characters for species identification for the oceanic holozooplankton assemblage. In addition, DNA barcodes allow recognition of new or undescribed species, reveal cryptic species within known taxa, and inform phylogeographic and population genetic studies of geographic variation. The growing database of “gold standard” DNA barcodes serves as a Rosetta Stone for marine zooplankton, providing the key for decoding species diversity by linking species names, morphology, and DNA sequence variation. In light of the pivotal position of zooplankton in ocean food webs, their usefulness as rapid responders to environmental change, and the increasing scarcity of taxonomists, the use of DNA barcodes is an important and useful approach for rapid analysis of species diversity and distribution in the pelagic community.

DOI

10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.09.025

Volume

57

Issue

24-26

First Page

2234

Last Page

2247

Comments

©2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Additional Comments

NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration grant #: NA06OAR4600091

NSUWorks Citation

Ann Bucklin, Brian D. Ortman, Robert M. Jennings, Lisa M. Nigro, Christopher J. Sweetman, Nancy J. Copley, Tracey Sutton, and Peter Wiebe. 2010. A “Rosetta Stone” for Metazoan Zooplankton: DNA Barcode Analysis of Species Diversity of the Sargasso Sea (Northwest Atlantic Ocean) .Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography , (24-26) : 2234 -2247. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/517.